Door-check



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F. H. OGDEN.

. DDOR CHECK. 7

No. 602,687. Patented Apr. 19,1898.

WITN ESSES:

(No Model.) 3 SheetS-Sheet 2.

F HdOGDEN. DOOR CHECK. No..602,687. Patented Apr 19,1898.

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3 SheetsSheet 3. P. H. OGDEN.

DOOR CHECK.

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& W ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK I-I. OGDEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HENRY ILL AND CHARLES WVINOKLHOFER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DOOR-CHECK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,687, dated April 19, 1898.

!Application filed June 19, 1897. Serial No. 641,434. (No model.)

To rtZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. OGDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Checks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to improvements in combined door checks and'springs, and particularly to liquid door-checks; and it consists in the novel arrangement of the fluid and air passages, in the novel mechanism employed, and generally in the novel combination, construction, and arrangement of the parts.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a simple, compact, durable, and comparatively inexpensive door-check, and, second, to provide simple and efiicient mechanism for operating the piston of the check and to so arrange this mechanism that the parts of the check may be easily assembled or taken apart. These objects are attained in the combined door check and spring herein described, and illustrated in the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification, in which the same reference-numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts, and in Which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a door-check and a portion of a door and door-frame, showing the external appearance of the check and the way in which it is attached to a door. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the check so attached, showing in dotted lines the position of the operating-levers when the door is partly open. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section of one form of check. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the check on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3, looking downward. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views on the lines 5 5 and 6 6, respectively, of Fig. 4, showing the entrance and exit passages to the working cylinder. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail sectional elevation and plan views, respectively, showing the air-passage connecting the reservoir and working cylinder, the section of Fig. 8 being taken near the top of the reservoir upon the line 8 of Fig. 7 and frame.

the section of Fig. 7 being taken near one vside of the reservoir on the line 7 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of another form of check, and Fig. 10 is a detail view illustrating the action of the cam mechanism.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the main casing of the check, which is provided with flanges 11 for its attachment to the door 12.

13 and 14'indicate the ordinary hinged operating-levers by which the shaft is rotated and the check operated during the opening and closing of the door, one of the levers being connected to a central shaft of the check and the other being connected to the door- 15 indicates this central shaft. (Shown in Figs 3 and 9.)

The casing 10 is divided internally, as

. shown in Fig. 3, into an upper or spring chamber 16, within which is the spring 17, and a lower chamber 18, in the upper portion of which are the gears and cam for operating the piston, the lower portion of this chamber, the working cylinder proper, being arranged for the movement within it of the piston 20. The piston is provided with an ecceutricallydisposed piston-rod 21, which at the top is provided with a projecting stud or cam-piece 22, engaging a cam 23 on a shaft 24, which is driven by bevel-gears 25 and 26 from the shaft 15. The cam 23 and its coacting campiece or stud 22 are of the type illustratedin Patent No. 525,830, dated September 11, 1894, granted to Charles Wincklhofer for an automatic door-closing device. The stud 22 fits into a recess 27 in the face of the 'cam, one shoulder 28 of the cam being arranged to work against the under side of the stud, so as to be able to lift the piston, and the other, 29, being arranged to bear downwardly upon the stud 22 and top of the piston-rod 21, so as to be able to force the piston down. The

shape of the cam and of the stud 22 is such that when the piston has been raised to the full extent by the cam the cam has moved to such a position that the stud 22 is no longer within the recess 27, and the cam slides idly past the stud without causing further movement of the piston. The cam is so designed that the disengagement of the stud 22 occurs before the door has been completely opened. In the closing of the door,when the cam 23 has reached the position where the stud 22 became disengaged from it in the opening of the door the stud again enters the recess 27, and the shoulder 29 of the cam presses down upon it and forces the piston down. As hereinafter explained, in moving downward the piston forces the liquid below it through a restricted passage, thus checking the sudden closing of the door. In order that the stud 22 may not be broken ofi, the shoulder 28 is broadened, as shown in Fig. 4, so that it bears directly upon the top of the piston-rod 21.

The spring-chamber and working cylinder are separated by a plate 30, which closes the working cylinder, so that no liquid can pass into the spring-chamber. The shaft has a closely-fitting bearing in this separating-plate 30, through which no liquid will pass. The spring-chamber 16 has a cover 31. A bushing 32 surrounds the shaft 15 and hasabearing in the cover 31. The spring 17 is an ordinary coil-spring, one end of which engages a slot 33 in the bushing 32, the other end engaging a slot 34 in the side of the chamber 16. The shaft 2% is revolubly mounted in lugs depending from the plate 30, so that when the plate 30 is removed the shaft 15, gearwheels, shaft 24, and cam are removed with it. This is an advantage, as it renders the assembling of the parts of the check very easy. Furthermore, it would be difficult to properly bore the bearings for the shaft 24 in the casing itself, while it is easy to bore the proper bearings in the lugs of the plate 30.

35 indicates the above-mentioned liquid chamber or reservoir. It is a cored chamber within the casing 10 and preferably is on the rear side of the casing next the door. From this reservoir a passage 36 (shown in Fig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4) and another passage 37 (shown in Fig. 6 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4) lead to the bottom of the working cylinder 18. The passage 36 is the entrance passage or port for this cylinder, and 37 is the exit passage or port. In the passage 36 is a check-valve 38. In the passage 36 is a throttle-valve 39, which may be simply a screw screwing into and restricting the passage 37. The check-valve 38 is arranged to permit free passage of liquid from the reservoir 35 into the cylinder 18, but to prevent reverse flow of liquid through the passage 36. An airpassage 40 (shown in Figs. 7 and 8) leads from the top of the reservoir 35 to the chamber 18. In the piston 20 is a check-valve 41, through which any liquid which may leak past and collect above the piston may pass into the space beneath the piston. The reservoir 35 is provided with a filling-opening closed bya suitablestopper42. (Shown in Fig.2.) Through this opening liquid can be introduced -into the check or the liquid already therein pou red out. The bushing 32, to which one end of the spring 17 is connected, is provided with a head having two series of ratchet-teeth (shown in Fig. 2,) which are reversely arranged and are upon opposite sides. The lever 13 has a pawl 43, adapted to engage these ratchet-teeth. To change the check for a left-hand door, if already adapted for a right-hand door, the pawl is rotated to cause it to engage with the opposite side of the bushing 32, and the spring 17 is reversed, and the gear 25 is placed on the opposite side of the cam 23. The bushing is provided with several ratchet-teeth on each side, so that the tension of the spring may be adjusted for difierent sizes of doors or for different conditions.

The piston-rod 21 is guided by a projecting rib or guide 44 in the chamber 18. The sides of this rib are plane and not curved, and the piston-rod fits closely thereto, so that in this way rotation of the piston in the cylinder 18, which, if it occurred, would throw the stud 22 out of line with the cam 23, is prevented. Other ribs 45 are provided in the chamber 18 for the reception of screws (not shown) which hold the plate 30 down.

The operation of the check is as follows: When the door is opened, the shafts 15 and 24 are rotated in such a direction as to cause the cam 23 to raise the piston 20, thus causing liquid from the reservoir 35 to flow through the passage 36 into the working cylinder beneath the piston. Air passes over from the chamber 18 to the reservoir 35 through the air-passage 4:0 to take the place of the liquid which has flowed from the reservoir. WVhen the door has been partially opened, the shoulder 28 of the cam 23 slips away from the stud 22 (see Fig. 10) and the piston remains stationary during the further opening of the door. The rotation of the shaft 15 while the door is being opened is against the tension of the spring 17. The door is closed by the action of this spring 17. In the closing of the door as soon as the cam 23 has reached a position in which its shoulder 29 engages the stud and piston-rod the cam presses the piston down. The check-valve 38 prevents the liquid in the working cylinder 18 from returning to the reservoir 35 through the free passage 36, so that the liquid can pass to the reservoir only through the passage 37, which is restricted by the throttle-valve 39. In this way the desired checking action is produced and the too rapid closing of the door prevented. The rapidity with which the door closes may be regulated by opening or closing this throttlevalve.

The capacity of the reservoir 35 and its position are such that before a quantity of liquid sufficient to threaten to interfere with the operation of the check shall have collected above the piston, as by leakage around the piston, the level of the liquid in the reservoir 35 will be so lowered that when the piston is raised the liquid will pass through the checkvalve 41 from the space above the piston to the space below. There is no objection to the accumulation of liquid in the space above the piston to an extent not sufficient to interfere with the operation of the check, and such liquid serves to keep the gears 25 and 26 lubricated.

Any air that may pass through the checkvalve 41 or may otherwise enter the space below the piston will pass up into the reservoir 35 through the passages 36 and 37.

It will be noted that the working cylinder 18 contains no openings or joints whatever through which leakage can take place.

Any suitable liquid may be used in the check, such as oil or glycerin.

The cam mechanism by which the piston is raised has the advantage that there is no motion of the piston during the latter portion of the opening and the earlier portion of the closing of the door, during which motion of the piston is not required. This permits the use of a piston having a comparatively short stroke and makes the check compact. The stroke of the piston is, furthermore, decreased in the check shown in the drawings by employing a bevel-gear 25 of greater diameter than the gear 26 upon the shaft 15. This is desirable, as it is desirable that the vertical height of the check shall not be great.

The check shown in Fig. 9 is precisely the same as that shown in Fig. 3, except that the piston is arranged to force the liquid into the portion of the working cylinder above the piston instead of into a reservoir. 46 indicates a by-pass passage having a regulatingvalve 39, through which liquid may pass from the lower portion of the working cylinder to the upper portion. WVhen the piston rises, the liquid above the piston passes downward through the check-valve 4:1 to fill the space below the piston. In this form of check the chamber 35 need not be of as great capacity as that of the check shown in Fig. 3 and it may communicate with the working chamber in the upper portion thereof. The upper portion of the working chamber itself forms a reservoir for the liquid of considerable capacity and will contain sufficient liquid to compensate for evaporation for a long time. The chamber 35, therefore, may be simply a passage of proper size leading to the fillingopening. The use of this chamber 35, however, permits the easy filling of the check with liquid, which otherwise could not be done without removing the cover 31, the spring, and the plate 30 and shafts, gears, and cam, thus making it practically necessary to remove the check from the door to which it is attached. The operation of this form of check is the same as that of the check shown in Fig. 3, except that the liquid passes from one side of the piston to the other instead of passing out of and into a reservoir.

Having thus completely described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v 1. In a door-check, the combination, with a vertically-arranged working chamber, a piston arranged to move up and down therein, and operating devices therefor, of a liquidreservoir separate from the working chamber but communicating therewith below the piston, valves arranged to permit free passage of liquid from said reservoir into the working chamber but to restrict the flow of liquid therefrom, a check-valve, opening downward in said piston, for automatically returning into action liquid which escapes to the upper side of the piston, and an air-passage connecting the upper portion of the working chamber with said reservoir, substantially as described.

2. In a door-check, the combination, with a casing containing a spring-chamber and a working chamber below the spring-chamber and adapted to contain a moving piston and mechanism for operating the same, suitable passages and valves, and a piston within the working chamber, of a plate separating the spring and working chambers, a horizontal shaft within said working chamber and suspended from said plate, mechanism operated by the revolution of said shaft for operating the piston, avertical shaft projecting through said plate into the working chamber and connected by gearing to said horizontal shaft, means for connecting said vertical shaft and the door whereby as the door opens and closes said shaft rotates, and a spring for closing the door, substantially as described. 7 I

3. In a door-check, the combination, with a casing containing a spring-chamber and a working chamber below the spring-chamber and adapted to contain a moving piston and mechanism for operating the same, suitable passages and valves, and a piston within the Working chamber, of a plate separating the spring and Working chambers, a cam-shaft within said working chamber and suspended from said plate, a cam upon said shaft acting upon the piston and adapted to reciprocate the same, an operating-shaft projecting through said plate into the working chamber and connected by gearing to said cam-shaft, means for connecting said operating-shaft and the door whereby as the door opens and closes said shaft rotates, and a spring for closing the door, substantially as described.

4. In a door-check, the combination, with a casing containing a working chamber, and a piston therein, of a plate closing said chamber, a shaft within said chamber and suspended from said plate, mechanism operated by the revolution of said shaft for operating said piston, and a vertical operating-shaft connected by gearing to said first-mentioned shaft, substantially as described.

5. In a door-check, the combination, with a working chamber, and a piston therein having a piston-rod carrying a projecting campiece or stud, of a revolubly-Inounted cam having shoulders, one of which is adapted to engage the stud and move the piston outward, and the other of which is arranged to bear against the end of the piston-rod for pressingthe piston inward, said cam and campiece being so shaped that they disengage when the cam is in a position corresponding the piston-rod Where it comes in contact with to a partly-open position of the door, and said guide-rib being also plane, whereby romeans for rotating said cam when the door tation of the piston in the working chamber opens and closes, substantially as described. is prevented, substantially as described.

5 6. In a door-check, the combination, with a In testimony whereof I afiix my signature I 5 working chamber, of a piston within said in presence of two witnesses.

chamber having a piston-rod working along FREDERICK H. OGDEN. and gnided bya guide-rib projecting from the Witnesses: side of said working chamber and having a HARRY M. MARBLE,

:0 plane guide-face, the corresponding face of MAY F. PETITTE. 

